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Internet

Microsoft and the social network LinkedIn announced they reached an agreement under which Microsoft will acquire LinkedIn at a price of $196 per share in cash for a total of $26.2 billion. The agreement provides that LinkedIn will retain its autonomy as a brand and as a company and Jeff Weiner will remain its CEO. The acquisition should be completed by the end of 2016.

A manuscript by Isaac Newton came to light after having been part of a private collection for decades. This year it was purchased by the “Chemical Heritage Foundation” and will be made available online in a partnership with Indiana University and in particular its project “The Chymistry of Isaac Newton”. This manuscript is someway special because it’s about alchemy, a subject Newton was very interested about in the course of his life.

In the course of March, a fundraising campaign on the Indiegogo website started to complete the post-production of an episode, produce three more episodes and cover other costs of the production of “Star Trek Continues”, the web series that continues the adventures of “Star Trek” original series. After the great success of the 2015 fundraiser, another called “To Boldly Indiegogo” started. This one is of the flexible type, which means that the production will be funded regardless of how much money will be pledged. The goal is to raise $350,000, really a lot for this kind of production.

Last Saturday the Internet pioneer Ray Tomlinson passed away, possibly due to a heart attack. He was best known for his inventions that created the modern e-mail system.

Raymond Samuel Tomlinson was born on April 23, 1941 in Amsterdam, New York, USA. He earned a Bachelor of Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York and a master’s degree in electrical engineering at MIT in 1965. For his contributions to the development of the Internet, over the years, Ray Tomlinson received a number of honors such as the George R. Stibitz Computer Pioneer Award, the Webby Award, the IEEE Internet Award and the Prince of Asturias Award. When the Internet Hall of Fame was opened in 2012 he was one of the first that were inducted in it.

Cisco announced it has reached an agreement to buy Jasper Technologies, Inc., a leader especially for its Saas (software as a service) cloud platform for the Internet of Things. The price is $1.4 billion to be paid part in cash and part in equity awards, and additional retention incentives for Jasper employees who join Cisco. Jasper should keep on being almost independent as part of the new Cisco’s Internet of Things business unit.